Perfect Guard
Perfect Guard is a Shield technique from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Link can perform this skill just before an enemy attack hits him. During a short moment, the enemy will be stumbled and Link can counter-attack. A Perfect Guard also protects the shield from wearing down, assuming Link had timed the maneuver correctly. The time window that allows Link to successfully pull off a Perfect Guard depends on factors such as the speed of the incoming attack, the range, what type of attack it is, and so on. This skill is effective against Guardians, as Link can reflect the laser to deal significant damage to them. In the case of the stationary Decayed Guardians, it instantly kills them. If pulled off too late or too early in this instance, it will leave Link wide open for the Guardian's beam. However, there is no need to use the Perfect Guard in that instance assuming Link wields an Ancient Shield and has it ready to reflect the beam (although without using the Perfect Guard the Shield's durability will still be damaged). The reflected beam will cause a lot of damage to Guardian Stalkers though only if it hits the Guardian Stalker's weak point which is its eye. Guardian Stalkers that have had all their legs destroy are effected by the beam's recoil which may cause the reflected beam to fail to hit their eye and instead hit its body causing the Guardian Stalker to take less damage from the reflected beam. Link can also use it to deflect rocks fired by Octoroks and snowballs fired by Snow Octoroks. Though he can reflect them by guarding normally, Perfect Guarding them successfully does not effect a shield's durability. The same goes for the Ancient Shield when auto reflecting Guardian lasers as it durability is effected by auto reflecting while Perfect Guarding does not effect the shield's durability. However auto reflecting can save Link if his Perfect Guard timing is off. However most shields will break if his timing is off save for shields with high durability like the Hylian Shield though the beam still effects its durability. Shield Parrying with a Lynel Shield, Mighty Lynel Shield, or Savage Lynel Shield can cut grass and even damage enemies due to the shields' blades though this can occur even without a Perfect Guard. According to Daruk's Training Journal, Link knew this technique before the Great Calamity as he used a Pot Lid to Perfect Guard a beam from a Guardian that went haywire during a test run at Hyrule Castle. Link's ingenuity, skill, and bravery during this incident caused Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule to promote him to Captain of Princess Zelda's Royal Guard detail to serve as her personal bodyguard. Presumably this was to ensure Zelda would be protected in the case a similar incident occured while she was researching ancient technology such as the Guardians. Though Link himself consciously forgot the technique, he can perform it as soon as he awakes without any instruction presumably due to muscle memory. However Ta'loh Naeg later instructs Link how to perform it unlocking its instructions in Ability Controls for easy reference and Ta'loh Naeg's Trial acts a a tutorial for Perfect Guard and other combat techniques. During the trial Link practices it on a Guardian Scout. See also * Perfect Dodge * Flurry Rush * Sneakstrike * Shield Attack * Shield Bash es:Guardia Perfecta Category:The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Category:Skills